Wednesday, July 5, 2017

IMPROVE OUR THINKING SKILLS NÂNG CAO KỸ NĂNG TƯ DUY

IMPROVE OUR THINKING
SKILLS

NÂNG CAO KỸ NĂNG TƯ DUY

Critical thinking is a metacognitive skill. What this
means is that it is a higher-level cognitive skill that involves thinking
about thinking. We have to be aware of the good principles of reasoning, and
be reflective about our own reasoning. In addition, we often need to make a
conscious effort to improve ourselves, avoid biases, and maintain
objectivity. This is notoriously hard to do. We are all able to think but to
think well often requires a long period of training. The mastery of critical
thinking is similar to the mastery of many other skills. There are three
important components: theory, practice, and attitude.

If we want to think correctly, we need to follow the
correct rules of reasoning. Knowledge of theory includes knowledge of these
rules. These are the basic principles of critical thinking, such as the laws
of logic, and the methods of scientific reasoning, etc.

Also, it would be useful to know something about what not
to do if we want to reason correctly. This means we should have some basic
knowledge of the mistakes that people make. First, this requires some
knowledge of typical fallacies. Second, psychologists have discovered
persistent biases and limitations in human reasoning. An awareness of these
empirical findings will alert us to potential problems.

However, merely knowing the principles that distinguish
good and bad reasoning is not enough. We might study in the classroom about
how to swim, and learn about the basic theory, such as the fact that one
should not breathe under water. But unless we can apply such theoretical
knowledge through constant practice, we might not actually be able to swim.

Similarly, to be good at critical thinking skills it is
necessary to internalize the theoretical principles so that we can actually
apply them in daily life. There are at least two ways. One is to do lots of
good-quality exercises. Exercises include not just exercises in classrooms
and tutorials. They also include exercises in the form of discussion and
debates with other people in our daily life. The other method is to think
more deeply about the principles that we have acquired. In the human mind,
memory and understanding are acquired through making connections between
ideas.

Good critical thinking skills require not just knowledge
and practice. Persistent practice can bring about improvements only if one
has the right kind of motivation and attitude. The following attitudes are
not uncommon, but they are obstacles to critical thinking:

To improve our thinking we have to recognize the
importance of reflecting on the reasons for belief and action. We should also
be willing to engage in debate, break old habits, and deal with linguistic
complexities and abstract concepts.

The California
Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory is a psychological test that is used to measure
whether people are disposed to think critically. It measures seven different
thinking habits listed below, and it is useful to ask ourselves to what
extent they describe the way we think:

Finally, as mentioned earlier, psychologists have
discovered over the years that human reasoning can be easily affected by all
kinds of cognitive biases. For example, people
tend to be over-confident of their abilities, and focus too much on evidence
that supports their pre-existing opinions. We should be alert to these
biases in our attitudes towards our own thinking.